The incident happened March 1 at his mother's home in the 100 block of Eastland Drive, near Walmart Supercenter off Indiana 26 East.

That morning, Freels' sister called police and reported that Freels allegedly left messages for his mother, threatening to kill her to "get even with her and make her beg for her life," according to a probable cause affidavit.

At the same time, a neighbor called police after seeing someone try to kick in the woman's front door.

According to the affidavit, responding officers found Freels on a wooden deck attached to the house. He repeatedly claimed to have matches and asked the officers if they were ready to die.

A strong scent of gasoline was coming from the deck.

Lafayette firefighters were called to hose down Freels and the deck to dilute the gasoline, which then allowed police to arrest him.

A matchbook containing two matches and an empty gasoline tank were later recovered from the deck.

Freels is further accused of threatening to kill a police sergeant's wife - and to make the officer watch as she died a slow death.

- Sophia Voravong/ svoravong@jconline.com

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Man threatens to kill mother, ignite gas tank

A Lafayette man doused himself in gasoline, stood next to a propane tank and threatened to light himself and everyone around him on fire outside his mother's home, court documents allege.